Let $ℒ$ be a language. A balanced pair (u,v) consists of two words u and v in $ℒ$ which have the same number of occurrences of each letter. It is irreducible if the pairs of strict prefixes of u and v of the same length do not form balanced pairs. In this article, we are interested in computing the set of irreducible balanced pairs on several cases of languages. We make connections with the balanced pairs algorithm and discrete geometrical constructions related to substitutive languages. We characterize...

The properties characterizing sturmian words are considered for words on multiliteral alphabets. We summarize various generalizations of sturmian words to multiliteral alphabets and enlarge the list of known relationships among these generalizations. We provide a new equivalent definition of rich words and make use of it in the study of generalizations of sturmian words based on palindromes. We also collect many examples of infinite words to illustrate differences in the generalized definitions...

The properties characterizing Sturmian words are considered for words on multiliteral alphabets. We summarize various generalizations of Sturmian words to multiliteral alphabets and enlarge the list of known relationships among these generalizations. We provide a new equivalent definition of rich words and make use of it in the study of generalizations of Sturmian words based on palindromes. We also collect many examples of infinite words to illustrate differences in the generalized definitions...

We give analogs of the complexity $p\left(n\right)$ and of Sturmian words which are called respectively the $*$-complexity $p_{*}\left(n\right)$ and $*$-Sturmian words. We show that the class of $*$-Sturmian words coincides with the class of words satisfying $p_{*}\left(n\right)\le n+1$, and we determine the structure of $*$-Sturmian words. For a class of words satisfying $p_{*}\left(n\right)=n+1$, we give a general formula and an upper bound for $p\left(n\right)$. Using this general formula, we give explicit formulae for $p\left(n\right)$ for some words belonging to this class. In general, $p\left(n\right)$ can take large values, namely,...

We prove that a Sturmian bisequence, with slope $\alpha$ and intercept $\rho$, is fixed by some non-trivial substitution if and only if $\alpha$ is a Sturm number and $\rho$ belongs to $\mathbb{Q}\left(\alpha \right)$. We also detail a complementary system of integers connected with Beatty bisequences.

In this paper we study multi-dimensional words generated by fixed points of substitutions by projecting the integer points on the corresponding broken halfline. We show for a large class of substitutions that the resulting word is the restriction of a linear function modulo $1$ and that it can be decided whether the resulting word is space filling or not. The proof uses lattices and the abstract number system associated with the substitution.

Une substitution est un morphisme de monoïdes libres : chaque lettre a pour image un mot, et l'image d'un mot est la concaténation des images de ses lettres. Cet article introduit une généralisation de la notion de substitution, où l'image d'une lettre n'est plus un mot mais un motif, c'est-à-dire un “mot à trous”, l'image d'un mot étant obtenue en raccordant les motifs correspondant à chacune de ses lettres à l'aide de règles locales. On caractérise complètement les substitutions par des motifs...

Let $\varphi$ be a substitution over a 2-letter alphabet, say $\{a,b\}$. If $\varphi \left(a\right)$ and $\varphi \left(b\right)$ begin with $a$ and $b$ respectively, $\varphi$ has two fixed points beginning with $a$ and $b$ respectively.We characterize substitutions with two cofinal fixed points (i.e., which differ only by prefixes). The proof is a combinatorial one, based on the study of repetitions of words in the fixed points.

Nous donnons une représentation géométrique des suites doubles uniformément récurrentes de fonction de complexité rectangulaire $mn+n$. Nous montrons que ces suites codent l’action d’une ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$-action définie par deux rotations irrationnelles sur le cercle unité. La preuve repose sur une étude des suites doubles dont les lignes sont des suite sturmiennes de même langage.

On étudie, dans cet article, les propriétés combinatoires de mots engendrés à l’aide de $q$-automates déterministes dénombrables de degré borné, ou de manière équivalente, engendrés par des substitutions de longueur constante uniformément bornées sur un alphabet dénombrable. En particulier, on montre que la complexité de tels mots est au plus polynomiale et que, sur plusieurs exemples, elle est au plus de l’ordre de grandeur de $n{(logn)}^p$.

We consider subshifts arising from primitive substitutions, which are known to be uniquely ergodic dynamical systems. In order to precise this point, we introduce a symbolic notion of discrepancy. We show how the distribution of such a subshift is in part ruled by the spectrum of the incidence matrices associated with the underlying substitution. We also give some applications of these results in connection with the spectral study of substitutive dynamical systems.

The box parameter for words counts how often two letters w j and w k define a “box” such that all the letters w j+1; ..., w k−1 fall into that box. It is related to the visibility parameter and other parameters on words. Three models are considered: Words over a finite alphabet, permutations, and words with letters following a geometric distribution. A typical result is: The average box parameter for words over an M letter alphabet is asymptotically given by 2n − 2n H M/M, for fixed M and n → ∞.

We consider directed figures defined as labelled polyominoes with designated start and end points, with two types of catenation operations. We are especially interested in codicity verification for sets of figures, and we show that depending on the catenation type the question whether a given set of directed figures is a code is decidable or not. In the former case we give a constructive proof which leads to a straightforward algorithm.

We consider directed figures defined as labelled polyominoes with designated start and end points, with two types of catenation operations. We are especially interested in codicity verification for sets of figures, and we show that depending on the catenation type the question whether a given set of directed figures is a code is decidable or not. In the former case we give a constructive proof which leads to a straightforward algorithm.